12-year-old Romeoville boy is Joliet Junior College graduate

Like many graduating students, Beny Bamburac of Romeoville was a little nervous about crossing a huge stage in front of an auditorium full of people.

Unlike many graduating students, however, Beny Bamburac is 12 years old, and he graduated from Joliet Junior College.

“It’s a very big ceremony,” Beny said.

Beny Bamburac graduated from Joliet Junior College in December after pursuing an associate degree in internet technology. He participated in JJC’s graduation ceremonies Friday.

Beny currently is studying computer science at Lewis University in Romeoville.

“Because I like computers,” he said. “I like programming.”

Learning at his own level

Beny said he likes spending his free time programming or enjoying slides at water parks. His father, George Bamburac of Romeoville, said Beny is otherwise 100% indistinguishable from any other 12-year-old.

That’s important, said Linda Blanco, retiring chair of the JJC math department, adding that she praised Beny’s parents for their approach to their son’s education.

“They’re not pushing Beny; Beny is driving this,” Blanco said. “That makes the difference.”

Blanco only once encountered a student like Beny – a student who, in seventh and eighth grade, took advanced calculus at the local high school. She envisions Beny earning at least his master’s degree and then perhaps working independently as a mathematician – at least until he is old enough to drive, she said.

“I understand what it is to have a student who is very bright, but they are rare,” Blanco said. “Everybody would like to think their kid is the smartest. I’m a mom, too, but I’m telling you, guys like Beny are very, very rare – and they need to be nurtured. He would not be served by anything less than what he is doing. This is play for him.”

I understand what it is to have a student who is very bright, but they are rare. Everybody would like to think their kid is the smartest. I’m a mom, too, but I’m telling you, guys like Beny are very, very rare – and they need to be nurtured.”

—  Linda Blanco, retiring chair of the math department at Joliet Junior College

Sung Kim, assistant professor of computer sciences at Lewis University who is Beny’s favorite teacher, said Beny is in a unique position “to be able to utilize the educational system and further his dream.”

“I’m happy for him,” Kim said.

Kim underscored the fact that Beny is a 12-year-old child “physically, socially and emotionally.” He doesn’t want Beny to feel intimidated in the classroom or bored – intellectually speaking.

“Because he either knows the material already or is able to pick it up so quickly,” Kim said.

Kim is working with Beny this summer in an independent study program in programming fundamentals that Lewis University created just for Beny, Kim said. Every student, even gifted students, should make “meaningful progress” in their lives, Kim said.

“We want the student to not just excel academically but grow holistically whichever path he goes academically,” Kim said.

‘He wanted more math, so I took him to JJC’

Beny’s father George said that by the time Beny was 6, Beny was studying calculus.

“While they were doing two plus two, he was trying to teach the teacher chemistry,” Bamburac said in 2021. “They were putting him aside. He came home sad, saying that in every class he was by himself because he was disturbing the other kids.”

So Bamburac enrolled Beny in a home-school program, which Beny completed in two years, including all four years of high school math, Bamburac said.

“So there was no more school for him,” Bamburac said. “He wanted more math, so I took him to JJC. … H likes math, and he seems to like computers, too.”

[ 10-year-old Romeoville resident is a full-time Joliet Junior College student ]

Bamburac said that Beny’s thirst for learning began when he was a baby, after another family passed along their reading DVDs to them, which Beny enjoyed watching.

By the time Beny was 8 months old, he was reading fluently, Bamburac said. At age 4, Beny discovered the “Math Antics” YouTube channel, which he turned on each morning and played “until it went off,” Bamburac said.

By age 5, Beny loved playing with Snap Circuits toys, which taught him basic engineering, electronics and circuitry concepts.

Beny also had a solid understanding of the Hebrew alphabet, said his mother, Sally Bamburac of Romeoville.

George Bamburac said everyone is nice at JJC and Lewis University, and they help to adapt policies to fit Beny’s unique situation. For instance, George Bamburac recalled a class Beny couldn’t access because he wasn’t 13, so the software had to be adjusted.

“He needed a parking permit, but he doesn’t drive,” George Bamburac said. “They had to put me on it so I could put it on the car, but we’re used to it now.”